The shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception honored as the principal Patroness of Korea by a pontifical decree accorded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1841.

Still, interest in it grew as an academic novelty, notably among members of the Silhak (실학; "practical learning") school, attracted to what they saw as its egalitarian values.

After the Joseon dynasty concluded a commercial treaty with United States in 1882, Marie-Jean-Gustave Blanc, M.E.P., Apostolic Vicar of Korea, sought land to build a mission.

Under the name Kim Gamilo, he acquired a vacant lot on Jonghyeon (Chong-Hyen), meaning "Bell Hill"; due to its proximity to a Confucian temple, Koreans had declined to build there.

[3] A school was constructed, and plans to build a church placed under the supervision of French priest Eugène Jean George Coste at the end of the diplomatic trade treaty between Korea and France in 1887.

Because of the First Sino-Japanese War, however, and the subsequent death of substitute Bishop Eugène Jean George Coste, the inauguration of the cathedral was postponed for several years.

Amidst Korean suspicion and persecution of Christianity at the time, the provincial church of Korea was originally a part of the Diocese of Beijing, China.

Lay member Hasang Cheong (Baptismal name: Paul) petitioned the Bishop of Beijing nine times without success before being sent to Monsignor Raphael Umpierres of Macao, who then fully formalized the petition in the Latin language in 1826, asking Pope Leo XII to separate the community from the control of diocese of Beijing.

The pontiff approved the request and assigned the Paris Foreign Missions Society but were hesitant due to the strong Anti-Christian sentiment in Korea at the time.

On 27 August 1960, Archbishop Paul Roh Ki-nam consecrated the grotto and dedicated it towards Korean reunification, at the time a highly controversial issue that persists on today.